OBITUARIES It is with sadness that we note the passing of the following alumni and friends of Mansfield College
Dr Robert Coates Lecturer in Mathematics
Bob Coates first came to Mansfield in 1986, to cover Janet Dyson’s maternity leave, and stayed on until his retirement in 2003, becoming a Stipendiary Lecturer in 1989. His contribution to Mansfield was immense. He was an excellent mathematician and one of the best teachers of mathematics either of us have ever encountered, thinking carefully and deeply about how to explain complex mathematical ideas. For Janet he was a wise and supportive colleague, particularly in admissions, where his gentle yet persistent probing helped candidates to show what they could do. For his students he was a much appreciated tutor and mentor, as can be seen by the many emails from alumni that the College received after his death. Indeed, a group of students plans to endow a maths prize in his memory. Bob’s day (and evening and weekend!) job was at the Open University, for which he worked as a Staff Tutor based at the Open University’s Oxford office from 1975 to 1997. With his closest colleague Derek Goldrei, who succeeded him at Mansfield, he managed a team of over 100 part-time tutors on the OU’s maths and computing courses and helped to create and run several of these
Prof Malcolm Parkes
Lecturer in English
Professor Malcolm Beckwith Parkes, who died on May 10th 2013, made a significant contribution early in Mansfield’s years as a Permanent Private Hall, before moving to a very distinguished career elsewhere. He was the College’s Lecturer in English Language and in Medieval Literature throughout the 1960s and, together with his colleague in English Literature, the late Stephen Wall, was Mansfield’s first academic appointment outside of Theology. At the same time, he held a lecturership at Keble College, advanced to a fellowship in 1965. Palaeography, the study of ancient writing systems and texts, was Malcolm’s specialism, and he was a world authority on the scribes and manuscripts of the medieval period and on the history of the book. Among much else, he transformed ways of working in his field through a series of classic publications, notably English Cursive Book Hands, 1250-1500 (1969), Medieval Manuscripts of Keble College, Oxford: a Descriptive Catalogue (1979),
courses. His most significant contributions were to the OU’s Mathematics Foundation Course M101, studied by over 100,000 students across its lifespan. Bob not only drafted a considerable proportion of the course materials, but also helped run the summer schools and devised and presented many of its TV and radio programmes. With his acting skills, he was a natural choice for the latter! Bob and Derek co-presented over 60 radio programmes, basing themselves shamelessly on the Two Ronnies, and Bob was for many years one of the key faces and voices for OU mathematics with the BBC. As well as his deep interest in mathematics, Bob’s cultural interests ranged widely from art, music and literature to ceramics and architecture. The theatre was one of his passions and he was very proud that he held a Canadian professional Equity ticket and had played Potso in the first professional production in Canada of Waiting for Godot. He was a man of extraordinary generosity, giving freely of his time and knowledge. Bob leaves Heather, his wife of 46 years, and will be sorely missed by his many friends, and his colleagues at both OUs (Open and Oxford). By Janet Dyson (Emertius Fellow in Mathematics) and Derek Goldrei (Fellow in Mathematics)
Scribes, Scripts and Readers (1991), Pause and Effect: an Introduction to the History of Punctuation in the West (1992), and Their Hands before Our Eyes: a Closer Look at Scribes (2008). In 1985 he was awarded an Oxford DLitt and in 1996 a personal chair in palaeography. His visiting and overseas appointments included membership of the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton. The wit and incisiveness, as well as the erudition, of his renowned books were already evident to those of us who were his pupils at Mansfield in the 1960s. The clarity and order of his thinking – though not always of his day-to-day life! – set a standard that some of us aspired to emulate. He was also a tutor of robust friendliness, generous with his time, his companionship, and his whisky. Malcolm’s wife Ann Dodman predeceased him, and he is survived by their two sons. By John Creaser (Emeritus Fellow in English)
The Rev Paul Benjamin Green Theology, 1949
Paul Green was born on June 29th 1928 in Stourbridge, Worcestershire. He graduated in English at Birmingham University before entering Mansfield College (1949) to read Theology in preparation for the Congregational ministry. With other Mansfield ordinands, he rowed for St Catherine’s Boat Club. A keen member of the Student Christian Movement, Paul welcomed the growing hopes of closer ecumenism. In 1952 he married Betty and embarked on 12 years of ministry, first in Stretford, Manchester, then in Low Fell, Gateshead. In 1964 he transferred to teaching English
52
and Religious Education at Whitley Bay Grammar School. In retirement at Low Fell and later at Bicester he continued to influence many, old and young, by his sharing of poetry, peace-making and God’s gospel of love. When Paul fell ill with motor neurone disease, his faith shone undiminished. He died peacefully on December 24th 2012, aged 84. Betty, their sons Christopher and John and their families survive him. By the Rev Donald Schofield (Theology, 1949)
